One of the keys to winning over Japan is getting Monster Hunter on your system. Along with Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, these are the biggest franchises in the land of the rising sun. Having them on your system usually… Continue Reading →

One of the keys to winning over Japan is getting Monster Hunter on your system. Along with Dragon QuestandFinal Fantasy, these are the biggest franchises in the land of the rising sun. Having them on your system usually ensures that it will last its life cycle. I mean Monster Hunter single-handedly made the PlayStation Portable.

And that’s why it was important that Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is coming to Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. I had a chance to play the latest entry to the series this week. It’s officially not a full sequel but an update to the Monster Hunter Trion the Wii.

The games features 50 percent more content than its predecessor. That translates to 17 new monsters for the West, which includes two that are never seen before. There’s also a second companion named Kayamba to go along with Cha-cha on a single-player quests. If that weren’t enough, old classes such as the dual swords, hunting horn and gun lance return, so there are even more weapons to choose from.

The 3DS version of the game still looks beautiful.

GREAT USE OF THE TOUCH-SCREEN: But what’s interesting about the new game (They’re essentially the same on the two systems.) is that they add functionality via the touch-screen. Players can divide the visual real estate and add a virtual D-pad that changes the perspective, a map, an ally’s health bar, a helpful lock-on button or any of the combination. It’s all customizeable so that players can choose what tools they want. It’s a good use of the technology.

In my hands-on time, I hunted the Lagombi, a giant ice gerbil, with three other journalists on Nintendo 3DS systems. The control scheme worked well. The addition of the lock-on feature is a life-saver because it will keep the enemy in front of you as long as it is in range. Even the virtual D-pad did a good job of letting me look around the environment. The graphics (especially in 3D) are on par with what fans saw on the Wii.

This Brachydios is hard to take down with it’s corrosive saliva and lightning.

WII U GRAPHICS: On the Wii U, it’s the same deal but this time, I tried the single-player experience. I had the benefit of a larger touch-screen. which made seeing the map a whole lot easier. The visuals on the Wii U are in high definition, and again the game looks gorgeous. That was one of the things that held back the Wii version of the game. You couldn’t appreciate the work that Capcom did because the visuals couldn’t match the current generation.

But back to my outing, I was on a solo mission to hunt a Barroth. It was surprisingly easy to take it down, especially with two helpers throwing bombs and giving me attack boosts. For those who don’t want to use the touch-screen, Capcom says that it’ll support the Wii U Pro Controller. But that means the controls will change slightly with the trigger buttons being used to bring up tools originally meant for the touch-screen. Capcom also said there’ll be USB keyboard support but that’s still being worked out.

Two people can play Monster Hunter with one on the 3DS and one on the Wii. They can also bring in one helper each for support.

CROSS-PLAY IS SUPPORTED: Lastly, because the two version of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate are the same on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, there is the option for cross-play between the two platforms. If you’re playing on the Wii U, three other Nintendo 3DS players can join in. You can also take your save from one platform to another. It’s a convenient way of taking your monster hunting on the road and come back to the big-screen to keep up your progress. As for Internet play, Wii U is the only platform that supports it.